Category Archives: Blog

A Chicken and Her Cankles

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Christy

Just like gardening, where you mostly learn as you grow, chicken keeping is proving to have the same learning curve. Polly the Barred Rock in
particular, has kept us on our toes this week.

At first, we thought she might be a ‘he’, since her legs and feet began to look much thicker than her sisters. It’s not entirely uncommon to discover your hen is a rooster if her comb changes color
or the legs thicken up (or …
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Garlic Kale Soup

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Christy

I would like to present one of the best soups I’ve ever eaten. It was restaurant-quality delicious and very easy to make. It uses kale and garlic
from the garden (save this for your upcoming garlic harvest) and shiitake mushrooms from the farmers’ market.

Garlic Kale Soup – Vegetarian Times, February 2010

I ran across the recipe recently in an Anti-Inflammatory eBook put together by Vegetarian Times. It showcases inflammation fighting …
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Soil Foodweb: It’s a Party In There

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Christy

This week we are delighted to present another guest blogger, Sheri Powell-Wolff, A.K.A. Compost Teana. Sheri is an Advisor and Master Soil Consultant for Soil Foodweb Oregon and Earth Fortifications in Corvallis,
Oregon.   Her company, Compost TEAna’s Organic Landscapes provides compost tea services and soil biology testing and consultation in
the Los Angeles Area.   She’s here to gives us the …
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Do You Bokashi? – Part 2

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Christy

The next installment of Mark Rainville’s Bokashi series is here. If you missed the first post, find it here. Let’s find out how to make this wonder food for plants. Take it away, Mark:

Welcome to the second part of my bokashi series. Today, I will review the process of mixing the bokashi bran. I find it to be a relatively
easy process as much of …

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Peat Moss vs. Sphagnum Moss and more

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Christy

The mailbox of Ask Gardenerd has been receiving some great questions this week. Here’s another about the difference between moss and moss:

“A question about moss… What is the difference between peat moss, sphagnum moss, and the green moss that grows around the ground?  Going into the 3rd year with my raised bed, and it has
many patches of green moss. Is this detrimental to the plants?   Should it be removed or turned back under into the …
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Green Garden Showcase Coming April 21, 2012

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Christy

The latest post from Mar Vista’s Bounty Hunter is ready for your perusal. Learn all about the upcoming free Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase and
get instant access with the new QR code map finder:

Green Gardens Take Over the Green Tent

Hope you can join us – we’ll be showing off our chickens, and the vegetable garden, of course.
 …
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Planting Tomatoes

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Christy

Tomato plant sales are gearing up all across the country. Whether you visit a TomatoMania event, or a local nursery, it’s clear that tomato fever is running rampant.

In most warm climates, it’s time to put them in the ground (while coastal and cool climate folks try to restrain themselves a little longer). Here are some helpful hints for planting tomatoes
whenever you get around to doing it:

…
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Locally Grown: 100 Mile Meal

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Christy

Last weekend, for the Mayor’s Day of Service, I attended a 100 Mile Meal. The challenge is to make a dish using only ingredients that can be
sources from within 100 miles. In talking with many of the participants, they realized how hard it can be to remain true to the cause.

Imported olive oil, toasted sesame oil, and cashews are just a few of the staple ingredients we often have on hand, but these are not locally …
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Cabbage Muthias

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Christy

Our ongoing effort to use up the bounty of cabbages harvested this winter continues. This week, try this recipe for cabbage muthias, an Indian
spiced dumpling that is sure to please.

The recipe recommends using Bob’s Red Mill Garbanzo & Fava Flour, but I didn’t have that, so I used straight Garbanzo flour. I suspect that the dumplings would have held together better during
the process of making them. The end result held together fine, and tasted …
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Do You Bokashi? – Part 1

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Christy

I’m delighted to present a guest post from Mark Rainville, one of my fellow gardeners at Ocean View Farms, who has been experimenting with E.M.
Bokashi over the last year. This is the first installment to get you started down the fabulous road to fermented tea as fertilizer / soil conditioner. Take it away, Mark:

With all of the home composting options available, the bokashi food scrap fermentation system is one of the easiest and can be the
…

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